More than 20,000 people apply for one-way ticket to Mars

In its first week, space reality-TV show draws applicants from around the world.

Last week we mentioned Mars One, the combination space mission/reality TV show project that aims to send four lucky space travelers to the Red Planet... forever. Interest in the project had been quite high, with the company's latest press release noting that it had received "10,000 messages from prospective applicants from over 100 countries." But that was before it started taking actual, formal, paid applications from would-be astronauts.

Turns out that in the week since, at least 20,000 people have paid $38 to formally apply for Mars One. Various sources around the Internet, including China Daily, are reporting that the world is full of people who wouldn't mind living out the remainder of their days in a questionable camera-stuffed habitat on Mars. Around 600 of the applicants are Chinese citizens, and it's arguable that some might not understand what they're getting into. According to China Daily, some of the prospective astronauts are a little optimistic about what they might find waiting for them once they reach their destination:

Ma Qing, a 39-year-old bookseller, said, "I think the chance to be part of the project is a cool way for me to change a dull daily life. Besides, the air on Mars must be much cleaner and easier to breathe."

Spoiler alert: Mars has an average atmospheric pressure of about 0.6 percent of Earth's, measuring 0.087 psi compared to Earth's 14.7 psi. It isn't a vacuum, but it's not far off, either. Citizens of Mars will need to bring their atmosphere with them, at least until we figure out how to terraform the entire world (a feat which is utterly beyond our current level of technology, at least in part because it requires the ability to shift large amounts of cargo from Earth to Mars).

So what makes Mars One so confident of success at a task that NASA has struggled with since the 1970s? Cofounder Bas Lansdorp's plan is to pull in tremendous public interest by playing the entire mission as a "reality TV" experience, getting folks attached to Mars One contestants candidates just like they do to American Idol hopefuls. The process has already started: the Mars One applicant site already lets people rate applicants. From there, you can pick out your favorites and vote them up.

In fact, this is how the project expects to clear the majority of its financing: the Mars One project will be filmed, from beginning to end, with the spacecraft and habitats all wired up with cameras and microphones like a grand version of the Big Brother house. No word on whether or not contestants will be able to vote each other out of the airlock, but here's hoping, because that would be awesome. And also horrible. But awesome.

"I don't want to live on this planet anymore" *goes and applies for reality tv spot to actually not live on the planet anymore*

I can see many valid reasons why someone would want to apply for this. So are they building the gingrich mars colony and accepting reality tv show contestants as colonists? I can't help but think humanity is doomed if a real attempt at colonizing another planet includes reality tv show contestants as its first occupants.

Is there any indication yet that these people have any idea how they're going to achieve their goals? They did an AMA on reddit (you know, the place that came up with "reddit island"), and even *those* people saw how ridiculous the whole thing was.

Does this amount of people it really come as a surprise? I would actually believe that this number is actually quite lower than I would have expected by this time. There are quite a few people in the world, and a pretty decent number of them have internet access. I would think statistically you would see at least this amount signing up, especially given the relatively low application fee. I think its pretty smart on their part to make the amount accessible to a large chunk of people.

I'm raising the BS flag myself. This project, even on the remote chance it got off the ground, would be the equivalent of a Reality TV snuff film. Not cool.

call it, artificial selection.

Send honey boo boo, snooki, and all the rest of the current imbecile idols on tv.

The Simpsons did it in their Y2K Treehouse of Horror story, where they had two ships to evacuate earth - one filled with the best of humanity to preserve our species, the other filled with entertainment media bottom feeders, aimed at the sun.

Bart and Homer ejected out of that second ship, rather than wait it out and be melted by the sun, finding the vacuum of space to be a relief from their presence. I would have chosen the same.

Good for the people running this scam, I guess? I can't honestly believe that anyone who might be legitimately a good fit for a mission like this is applying because they, like us, would have seen the million red flags associated with this fool's mission.

If this were to actually happen, what will be the stance on procreation by the participants?

We don't know if it's even possible. NASA did an experiment where they flew a batch of fertilized frog eggs on the shuttle. None of them developed into healthy embryos. The conclusion of the study was that some level of gravity is needed for embryogenesis; however what level is required is unknown.

If neither 16 or 39% gravity are sufficient any plans for colonizing the solar system will have taken a major hit. Spending months in a giant centrifuge is probably a non-starter for potential lunar/martian colonists; and needing to build a ring large enough to spin at 1g without rotational effects making things unpleasant for human passengers would require a much larger capital investment than a low g station.

Putting a centrifuge capable of 1g into orbit to investigate this is near the top of my personal astrobiology wishlist; unfortunately I seem to be short the several million it would take to do so.

I'm raising the BS flag myself. This project, even on the remote chance it got off the ground, would be the equivalent of a Reality TV snuff film. Not cool.

This is how scientific progress has always moved forward. On the backs of the common man. At least this time they are given a choice. A chance to participate of their own free will. Generally, it is done with slave labor, and the ignorant and poor. The needy masses forced to push forward for the "good of all".

Humanity needs to be challenged, to strive for greater things than ourselves. This platform may seem silly to some, and may seem impossible to others. And it may be... But, the idiom dealing with "broken eggs" is not lost on everyone. We must move forward in some way that appeals to the masses. Right now, science is at a stand still. We need to "reinvent" science. Make it desirable to the "reality tv" watchers. Make it understandable to the blue collar, and the white collar. If it doesn't work out with THIS one at least the idea of space exploration is BACK on the table. At least it is being talked about by people again. This is as important as anything that you and I will ever do though it may not seem like it now.

If this were to actually happen, what will be the stance on procreation by the participants? Will they be sterilized before going?

I'd seriously doubt it; why would you? If by some miracle it succeeds, you would have two couples capable of procreating on a planet, with tools that would presumably allow them to increase, albeit slowly, the size of the habitation. There is also a projected second group of four that would come four years later; although 8 couples is not a viable permanent genetic base, it's viable over up to maybe a century, allowing a jump start to the (eventual) larger scale Mars Colonizations. Additionally, the people there would have the ability to flesh out more fully the techniques and tools needed, along with preparing the future first city on Mars.

All in all, it's a brilliant way to start off Mars colonization, provided that future colonists and supplies were coming over the next thirty years or so, until the colony could actually become fully self sufficient. If it wasn't a scam. Which, unfortunately, it is.

Good for the people running this scam, I guess? I can't honestly believe that anyone who might be legitimately a good fit for a mission like this is applying because they, like us, would have seen the million red flags associated with this fool's mission.

Then again, you know what they say about a fool and his money...

Giant red flags or not, I'm sure among the 20k who've put down money are more than a few people who would be suitable and are willing to put down the money knowing the odds are extremely long because it's a once in a lifetime chance at fulfilling a dream. At the end of the day $38 is only one or two meals at a nice restaurant; it's not that much money to give up. The odds of any of the suitable candidates winning a reality TV style voting to the top however are probably as dismal as you think.

at least until we figure out how to terraform the entire world (a feat which is utterly beyond our current level of technology, at least in part because it requires the ability to shift large amounts of cargo from Earth to Mars).

Not to be too nitpicky here - and this is only tangentially related to the article - but terraforming Mars wouldn't actually require that much material from Earth. Mars has mostly the same raw materials as we do here: silica, iron, carbon, oxygen, and so on. Technically, all we need to send there is just enough equipment to process those materials in usable quantities, then we can make pretty much anything we want.

The media needs to be a little hesitant when publicizing this. It is likely a publicity stunt where the Mars One site benefits from the a registration fees of its applicants as well as donations. I would like to see Aerospace experts from NASA chime in. I recall a lecture from JPL explaining the extreme challenges of landing people on Mars.

At best, the Mars One organization is presumptuous - but I question the integrity of this project and would like Ars to follow the projects money, get the opinion of experts, and revisit the history of Ponzi schemes.

Well, I would have signed up if it was a trip to Venus. There the gravity is almost the same as on Earth and you have plenty of sunlight and heat to use for powering everything that you need. You can also build ships that will basically float on "top" of that thick atmosphere. And the trip to Venus will take months.

I actually have a bet with my nerd friend about going to Mars vs. going to Venus. The loser gets circumcised(*) with hand made scissors.

The media needs to be a little hesitant when publicizing this. It is likely a publicity stunt where the Mars One site benefits from the a registration fees of its applicants as well as donations. I would like to see Aerospace experts from NASA chime in. I recall a lecture from JPL explaining the extreme challenges of landing people on Mars.

At best, the Mars One organization is presumptuous - but I question the integrity of this project and would like Ars to follow the projects money, get the opinion of experts, and revisit the history of Ponzi schemes.

This is not what a "Ponzi scheme" is. They are taking applications. They are under NO obligations to return money. There is NO expectation on the party of Mars One to actually achieve anything. A Ponzi scheme guarantees a return at a certain rate, which is only obtainable for a finite amount of time determined by the income rate.

This may be a scam, but the way I look at it... at least people are talking about space exploration again. Which is always a good thing in my book.

I wish I could go on this trip. Of course, quickly upon arrival I would turn their reality TV show into a murder mystery, as I systematically slay all the other people there. Then, alone on the planet, I'd shut off all the microphones, and at long last have some goddamn peace and quiet.

I wish I could go on this trip. Of course, quickly upon arrival I would turn their reality TV show into a murder mystery, as I systematically slay all the other people there. Then, alone on the planet, I'd shut off all the microphones, and at long last have some goddamn peace and quiet.

This is genius

Too bad the reality TV show part makes this so hard to take seriously...

If this were to actually happen, what will be the stance on procreation by the participants?

We don't know if it's even possible. NASA did an experiment where they flew a batch of fertilized frog eggs on the shuttle. None of them developed into healthy embryos. The conclusion of the study was that some level of gravity is needed for embryogenesis; however what level is required is unknown.

If neither 16 or 39% gravity are sufficient any plans for colonizing the solar system will have taken a major hit. Spending months in a giant centrifuge is probably a non-starter for potential lunar/martian colonists; and needing to build a ring large enough to spin at 1g without rotational effects making things unpleasant for human passengers would require a much larger capital investment than a low g station.

Putting a centrifuge capable of 1g into orbit to investigate this is near the top of my personal astrobiology wishlist; unfortunately I seem to be short the several million it would take to do so.

Fair (and interesting!) points. I was really going more for the "whether they should" angle rather than "whether they could." (you know, "think of the children"). I don't see this as exactly the same as the Oregon trail. While it too was perilous, the people could turn back, and they could gain sustenance from the land. It seems like a difference between very probable death and certain death.

Someone once described the atmosphere of Mars aptly as "dirty vacuum". It's just thick enough to transport lots of dust with particles the size of those in tobacco smoke and to transport heat away from everything that's warmer than whatever temperature the atmosphere has. As far as atmospheres go this one is nothing but a nuisance.

Really, I totally get all the excitement, but with our current technology living on Mars basically means living in a tiny can. Looking through the window at a wind-swept dusty plain isn't going to make this any better.

I'm a little on the fence about this one. I read all the very skeptical comments and I have to agree. It sounds like a sham. But, on the other hand, this isn't a bad way to give a go at Mars a try. It's essentially crowdfunding the idea, rather than waiting for politicians to do it. And it's involving the whole world, rather some one or couple countries.

But, there are certainly some problems. Are any real, trained astronauts going, as well? Or are 4 various amateurs being tossed up there. I mean, that creates two very different scenarios. Astronauts don't go through severe selection processes and train for years at a professional level because nobody's got anything else better to do.

Also, I wonder how much people who are signing up for this realize that their living quarters are going to be *cramped*. And I'm not sure what their solution is for water. No matter how careful they are, it's going to slowly dissipate into nooks and crannies such that it can't be retrieved.

Overall, crowd funding the idea could work, in principle. But I would want a MUCH MORE OPEN process. A corporation doing this for profit is not something that I would consign my life to. I would want the whole project from A to Z crowd-sourced (knowledge, money, purpose, plans). Non-profit (at least in terms of money).

Lee Hutchinson / Lee is the Senior Reviews Editor at Ars and is responsible for the product news and reviews section. He also knows stuff about enterprise storage, security, and manned space flight. Lee is based in Houston, TX.